Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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than a mere call was needed. But that is a different matter, for here
we are dealing with the argument whether or not the Radical Bhakti
ideology made a major and a clear dent in the caste ideology.
In the social background as it existed, any attack on the props
and the ideology of the caste structure was a direct blow to the system
itself. It is for this purpose that we singled out the pillars on which the
caste order rested and pointed out the social relevance of these pillars
to the maintenance and working of the caste system (chapter iv). There
is no doubt that the Radical Bhaktas, some of them atleast, attacked
all the foundations of the caste structure. As already seen, they
preached the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and
thus challenged the inequitous religious and social values on which
the caste order was based. The human kingpin of the caste-system,
the Brahmin Levite caste, was ridiculed and its prestige humbled. The
repudiation of the authority of Vedas and other related scriputres
sought to destroy the religious sanction behind caste. The
condemnation of rituals and customs connected with caste undermined
its ceremonial sanctification. The rejection of theory and practice of
pollution, and the restrictions of food and drinks, sought to eliminate
one of the most potent means of the propagation of caste
exclusiveness. To avoid loading the main text, the relevant hymns of
these Bhaktas are given in Appendix C. The perusal of these hymns,
in the context of their relevance to the factors which helped to maintain
the caste order, would clearly show that the ideology of the Radical
Bhaktas had both a social and a religious significance. In fact, the
thoroughness with which they cover all the salient features of the
caste ideology that upheld and maintained the caste order, and the
vehemence with which they condemn them, make it clear enough that
these savants regarded the caste order and its ideology, to say the
least, as a hindrance to their religious approach and aims. Whether
they denounced the caste ideology because of their religious approach,
or because of their direct social concern, is immaterial. The fact
remains that they attacked the caste ideology, and as its result the
caste order, in unequivocal terms.
To argue that the Radical Bhaktas advocated human equality
but were not opposed, or were indifferent, to the problem of caste, is